• DSCOVR is the result of a partnership between NOAA, NASA and the United States Air Force and will be used to observe and provide advanced warning of extreme emissions from the sun which can affect power grids, communications systems, and satellites close to Earth.
  • Falcon 9’s nine Merlin engines burned for 2 minutes and 44 seconds, shutting down as expected just prior to separation of the first and second stages. Shortly thereafter, the second stage’s Merlin Vacuum engine ignited to begin the first of two burns for a duration of approximately 1 minute.
  • Ultimately, DSCOVR will be positioned at the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrangian point, 1,500,000 kilometers (930,000 mi) from Earth, more than four times farther than the Moon. SpaceX delivered DSCOVR to a parking orbit just under 200km, and the satellite will reach its final orbit 110 days after launch.

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